ABN Amro to Meet with Barclays and RBS Consortium -- FT

Under pressure from Dutch shareholders' association VEB, ABN Amro has arranged a meeting with competing bidders Barclays and a Royal Bank of Scotland-led consortium, according to the Financial Times. VEB had put in a request that Amsterdam's Enterprise Court name three independent directors to oversee the takeover of ABN. The group withdrew the request following news that a "powwow" had been scheduled between ABN and the two bidders. Though the Dutch bank denies its support for the Barclays offer has diminished, the presence of the consortium at the meeting is interpreted by "people close to the deal" as increasing pressure on Barclays to sweeten its bid. Barclays' all-stock bid values ABN at €64 billion; the consortium's cash-and-stock offer, which was just revised to increase the cash portion to 93% from 79%, values ABN at €71.1 billion. According to the article, ABN is hoping to clarify how the consortium, which also includes banks Fortis and Santander, plans to divvy up ABN's businesses. In related news, a study released Wednesday by independent broker Execution indicates that only 41% of Barclays' shareholders would vote in favor of its takeover of ABN and that only 5% of ABN shareholders would accept its current bid.

Sources: Financial Times
Commentary: Barclays to Sweeten Offer for ABN Amro -- FT • RBS Consortium Ups Cash Ante for ABN Amro • Dutch Supreme Court: ABN Amro Can Proceed with LaSalle Sale
Stocks/ETFs to watch: ABN Amro Holding N.V. (ABN), Barclays PLC (BCS), Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc [ADR] (RBSPY.PK). Competitors: HSBC Holdings plc ADR (HBC), Deutsche Bank AG (DB), UBS AG (UBS). ETFs: iShares MSCI Netherlands Index (EWN), streetTRACKS KBW Bank (KBE), HOLDRS Regional Bank (RKH)

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